Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un met last week in Singapore. At the meeting, Donald shared a four-minute movie trailer called "A Story of Opportunity for North Korea"

I was a little surprised by the video clip that Trump brought with him. I don't normally think about diplomacy and videos. But, it is a new world.

It depicts a brighter future for North Korea in the event of a nuclear deal. It also presents a stark choice to Kim ... trade in your nuclear weapons for a peace deal with the U.S., or don't and you'll be decimated.

Was it me, or does the video seem strangely reminiscent of a pitch you might receive for a real estate deal or a timeshare?

My adult son took me to see a Pixar movie and for a Philly Cheesesteak (in Texas) today for Father's Day.

As a father, having great kids is a double blessing. On one hand, it's nice to be proud of who your kids are and the things they do. On the other hand, it's also nice to feel proud of the small part you played in helping them become who they are.

In addition, this weekend, I spent some time thinking about my father and what a terrific influence he had on so many lives.

My Dad was incredibly loving; yet, he was also incredibly demanding.

For example, after winning the State Championship in the shot put, I watched him run down from the stands. I figured he was coming down to celebrate. Instead, he looked deeply into my eyes and asked whether I was disappointed that I did not throw a personal best that day? I replied: "But Dad, I won." He smiled and recognized that winning was important too ... then he reminded me that the other throwers were not the real competition. In life, to be and do your best, the competition is really with yourself; and we both knew I could do better.

My Dad believed in setting high standards. He explained that most people's lives are defined by their minimum standards. Why? Because once those standards get met, it is easy to get distracted by other things and meeting the minimum standards for them as well.

Here is something else worth sharing; it was one of his favorite sayings. "The difference between good and great is infinitesimal." This applies to many things. For example, people who are good take advantage of opportunities; people who are great create them. The point is to set a higher standard and to have a better life.

Well, that should explain a little of the dysfunction ... but, if you can't mess up your own kids, whose kids can you mess up?

June 10, 2018

It seems like more and more of my peers have found paths to their success in the unconventional routes. The zeitgeist is shifting away from traditional education and it has many people doubting the need for a secondary degree.

Ultimately, many of my peers would argue that traditional education methods currently prioritize memorization and performance on standardized tests degree functional real-world knowledge that helps you make and keep a living.

You'd expect a valedictorian to disagree or defend his education, but this 2016 Valedictorian went a different route.

His speech starts:

"As much as I would like to say that I was chosen because of my hard work, dedication, and intellect ... I would be far from truthful in doing so, as I have met and studied alongside individuals more diligent and talented than myself in the past 4 years.

Here is the full speech:

Unfortunately, today, the climb towards the upper quartiles of education is more like playing a game than striving to learn, and lower quartile students have very little reason to apply and better themselves. For teachers, funding is based on grades and standardized tests, which encourages rote memorization. For students, success is meeting or exceeding minimum standards.

I loved my college experience and felt I learned a lot, but did I learn because of the educational system or because I'm someone who is passionate about learning?

In the past, universities were the only path to knowledge, but online educational methods like Youtube, Udemy, Coursera, etc. make information and education accessible to everyone.

Degrees aren't as helpful in obtaining jobs and they're not the only path to being successful or educated ... so what role do they play?

Personally, I still believe a College degree is valuable - especially as you talk about B.S. and graduate degrees. I also feel it's less of a necessity, today, than ever before. I don't doubt the value of education as an ideal - and think everyone would benefit from being more educated - but there's a difference between "education" and "an education."

What do you think it would take to increase the value of "an education" both to students and to the workforce?

Howmuch gathered data from the Occupational Employment Statistics Survey and compiled it into a list of iconic jobs per state. It also tells you the average pay for that position and what percentage of those jobs that state holds. Their analysis uses something called the location quotient to capture how common something is in a given location.

For example - 50% of jobs in Texas aren't Petroleum Engineers, but Texas does contain over 50% of America's Petroleum Engineers.